The 100
by Inkblot77
Summary: Whatever they had expected, it sure as hell wasn't this. Even when a ton of stuff happened, and grounders attacked and whatever, they had always fought back. Of course they had! Trouble was, they weren't sure they had been fighting for the right reasons. No. They definitely hadn't expected this.
1. The Descent

Disclaimer: The 100 belongs to Kass Morgan, I do not own any of her characters.

 **The Descent**

 **Clarke**

The first thing Clarke became aware of was a deep thrumming that reverberated around inside of her. That wasn't unusual- the whole Ark was a vibrating hunk of metal. Clarke -everyone- had grown up with it. Everyone for the past couple of centuries that was. But this vibration (if you could call it that) felt… wrong. The ground felt as if it was tearing itself apart beneath her. Clarke felt groggy, as though she was struggling through something viscous, like honey. _The engineers will fix it_ , she thought. _They always do._ Blearily, she opened her eyes. Everything spun around her. She could just make out a row of people strapped to seats in front of her. _What on Earth?_ Clarke's sluggish brain struggled to make sense of it all. She squeezed her eyes shut. Pops of colour burst beneath her eyelids like the firecrackers children used to light centuries ago, each bringing a snapshot of memory. Charcoal, rubbing her fingers black… the guards… her mother… her mother telling her she was going to… that she was going to…

Clarke's eyes snapped open as she gasped.

"Back, are you?"

Clarke's stomach became leaden before he could finish his sentence. She would know that voice anywhere. The voice that had stalked her in her dreams for the past six months, once so comforting, now made her feel as though an ice cube had just slipped down her throat.

Turning, she saw a dark-skinned boy staring at her with apprehension. " _Wells?_ What are you _doing_ here?"

He rushed to explain, tripping over his words. "I couldn't let you go alone! If we were going to die I at least needed to know you didn't hate me!"

"You killed my father, Wells! I _do_ hate you!" Clarke spat, before turning away and closing her eyes again. She'd dreamed of this moment for her entire life. Of course Wells would be here to wreck it all. Ironic that she'd once _hoped_ they'd land together, dreamed of it even…

 _Of course,_ she thought, _there's the most likely chance that we will all burn up in a big wave of radiation as soon as we get out of the drop ship._ They all knew the effects of radiation extremely well. Blistering skin and bloody vomiting before the radiation began to destroy your cells… And everyone knew that Earth was soaked in it. But here they were, hurtling toward it in a scrap of metal, and she was _excited._

 _Earth._

She opened her eyes as a cheer want around the drop ship. It was hard to hear over the bangs that had gotten louder as they neared the Earth's atmosphere. One of the boys across from her had cut his belt and was floating through the zero-g atmosphere. He propelled himself over until he was level with her face. "So you're the one they kept in solitary for a month. What have you possibly got to hide?"

"And you're the idiot who wasted a month's worth of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk," Clarke said coldly, ignoring the question.

"But it was _fun_ ," the boy replied mockingly, dark brown eyes wide. "I'm Finn."

Eyes rolling at the hoots and whooping that proceeded his remark, Clarke sat up as straight as she could against her belt. "You need to get back in your seat before the parachutes deploy," she said loudly over the sound of metal scraping on metal and the laughs of 99 other juvenile delinquents. Well. 98. From the quick glance she snuck, Wells' face could have been carved from stone. Finn ignored her and instead flipped to the other side of the ship. Frustrated, Clarke yelled out, "Seriously! You're going to be killed!" Finn paid no attention, and to Clarke's horror, two more boys were sawing through their seat belts.

A crackling noise drowned out her shouts as an automated message from the chancellor began to play. They were packed together so closely, she felt Wells stiffen beside her. She couldn't hear much, but she caught the words "one hundred," "ground," and "expendable."

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" someone yelled.

Clarke couldn't agree more.

People started cheering again, drowning out the chancellors words completely as the two other boys rose out of their seats and floated towards the ceiling…

A mighty wrenching noise ripped through the air as Finn and the two other boys smashed into the drop ship wall. "The parachutes!" she heard Wells yell, and felt his hand on hers. She yanked it away and gripped her armrests, focussing instead on her breathing. _Any minute now…_

The drop ship slammed to a halt with such force, Clarke's head smacked against the metal headrest. There was a final loud bang, and then silence.

No one spoke. Clarke hardly dared hope. If they really were on Earth, chances were they were all going to be dead from radiation in the next 10 minutes.

"Listen," someone said. "No machine buzz…"

A murmuring filled the ship as people begun unbuckling their belts and moving towards the door. Clarke hastened to unclip herself, fingers fumbling. Finn was crouched in the corner, over the two boys who had tried to follow him out of their seats. "Finn… are they breathing?" she asked urgently. Slowly, Finn shook his head. Clarke let out a slow breath. Two down already…

A harsh voice distracted her and she climbed down the ladder towards the door. "Back up everyone," a boy was saying brusquely. He was wearing a dishevelled guard's uniform but Clarke would have bet he wasn't a guard at all. His dark hair was slicked back against his head in an effort to look more professional, but his jacket was ill fitting and looked awkward. He looked familiar. "I said _back up_. I didn't come down to Earth to have to deal with some idiot like you. Now are you going to move or do I have to make you?"

"Bellamy?" a disbelieving voice sounded from near Clarke's head. A pretty dark- haired girl jumped off the ladder and started shoving people away.

"Octavia?" the boy in the uniform had frozen with his hand gripping some boy's collar.

"Bell!" the girl reached him and threw her arms around his neck.

"O," the boy smiled in relief. "Look how big you've gotten!"

"Can we hurry this up?" someone shouted. "I didn't come down here to watch your little love-fest." Bellamy threw himself at the person who yelled out so violently that Octavia had to leap out to restrain him. "Do you mind?" she said, venomously, while Bellamy fumed. "I haven't seen my brother in a year."

Mutterings filled the drop ship, and Clarke suddenly knew why the boy seemed familiar. Bellamy and Octavia Blake. The only siblings in the universe. Octavia Blake had hid under the floor for nearly 16 years. The Ark's one- child policy was very strict. It had been all over the comms when she was found. Clarke felt a wave of sympathy for how hellish Octavia's life must have been. That sympathy evaporated as Octavia made a move to open the drop ship door. "Stop!" Clarke let out a cry. Every head turned to her. She elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. "The air could be toxic!"

"If the air's toxic, we're all dead anyway," Bellamy said dryly, and pulled the lever before Clarke could protest any more. Slowly, the door dropped open.

The group drew a collective breath as first the sky, then the trees came into focus. Clarke gasped as the first rays of sunlight splintered onto the ship. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the endless blue that stretched out in above her, and the deep, deep green of the trees swaying in the gentle breeze. And the breeze… Clarke closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. The stench of oil and filtered air was gone. Instead, the air smelled… sweet. Clarke found she was grinning. At this moment, she had even forgotten that this sweet smelling air could be frying her lungs. Octavia slowly stepped out onto the lowered drop ship door and jumped to the ground, drawing in a deep breath. Raising her head to the sky, Octavia screamed out, her voice sending thrills of exhilaration through Clarke.

" _We're back, bitches!"_

And everyone aboard the ship rushed out in one fluid motion, whooping and cheering, buffeting Clarke along in their midst, out into the bright rays of sun, and the fresh air.

Out onto Earth.


	2. Where the Wild Things Are

Disclaimer: The 100 belongs to Kass Morgan, I do not own any of her characters.

 **Where the Wild Things Are**

 **Glass**

Glass huffed impatiently, ragged nails tapping on the monitoring screen's keypad. She knew she should probably go to bed soon. It was well past midday and she hadn't slept at all the previous night. It wasn't unusual for her to pull an all-nighter (being the youngest member on the council in 50 years had its difficulties) but this past week had been a nightmare.

Rubbing her tired eyes, Glass reached for her cup of water and drained the last few drops. Her mouth still felt like it was stuffed with sawdust. She knew for a fact her usually impeccable shirt was rumpled and that there was maybe a coffee stain or two soaked into the rough material of her pants. She was a wreck. Her eyes flicked back to the telescreen, scrutinising the information for any irregularities. Her eyes glazed over…

Just that morning they had sent 100 juvenile prisoners in a rusty, broken-down drop ship and tossed them out into space like a centuries-old Frisbee in the hope that they _might_ survive. That Earth _might_ be survivable. Glass closed her eyes. It had been a stroke of genius from Sinclair to monitor the hundred's vital signs using metal wristbands, so at least the Ark could have some insight as to whether the radiation was affecting the kids or not. But that didn't make any better the fact that they had most likely sent those 100 children out to die. Technology from the Ark was no good to them if radiation was frying their brains out.

Glass knew that they had done what they'd had to do. If they waited any longer, the Ark… Glass shuddered. Yes. They'd done what they'd had to do. But she still felt a twist of guilt whenever she remembered the Chancellor's message, ( _expendable_ \- good God) and an even bigger twist of guilt when she remembered that this whole thing had been her idea.

Frustrated, Glass ran her fingers through her long, greasy, blonde hair and tried to refocus her eyes.

 **Clarke**

Clarke traced her finger along the thin brown line indicating the track. Or what used to be a track. She'd scanned the perimeter of the clearing they'd landed in and there didn't seem to be any clear path leading _anywhere._ She slammed her fist down on the metal of the part of the drop ship she was resting on. Excited shrieks and whoops still rang through the forest as everyone tore around the drop ship, jumping up and down or, in the case of a few, laughing hysterically. Clarke screwed up her eyes. Could they just be quiet for a _minute?_ Earth _was_ amazing, and if Clarke was honest with herself, she'd love to be screaming through the forest too, breathing in all the lush air. But now that they'd landed, their first priority needed to be figuring out a way to get to all the supplies in Mt Weather. The Chancellor had told them that they were being dropped on the mountain and that inside there was a bunker with enough food and supplies to keep them all through winter- even longer, if necessary. But he'd neglected to inform them of just how they were supposed to actually get _into_ the bunker. According to the map she'd found stuffed in one of the drop ship compartments, there was supposed to be a path leading right to it. But (Clarke ground her teeth) that path had not yet presented itself.

Suddenly, she felt something thump down beside her from the top of the drop ship. Startled, she whipped her head around, expecting to see a huge beast with fangs or at least rolling eyes. Instead, Finn grinned lazily at her, brushing his hands together. Clarke rolled her eyes, and went back to her map, hoping he'd take the hint. Unfortunately, he seemed to take this as an invitation to come even closer. "Why so serious, Princess?"

Clarke gave him a withering stare, before turning and heading back up the small hill behind their drop ship. From there she could distinguish where they had landed in relation to all the other green, rolling peaks in the distance. "You don't like being called Princess, do you, Princess?" Finn called out from behind her. Clarke was too absorbed in the map to even turn around. A sinking feeling of dread was starting to solidify in the pit of her stomach. Finn had arrived next to her and let out a low whistle as he took in the breathtaking view across the mountain range. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he said, glancing at Clarke. She looked up and then down again at the map before pointing out a peak to Finn.

"Do you see that?"

"Yeah. I also see a million other lumps of rock. So what?"

" _That's_ Mt Weather. There's a radiation soaked forest between us and our next meal."

Startled, Finn stared back at Clarke. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. They landed us on the wrong damn mountain." Clarke turned and walked away grimly.

 **Glass**

"Chancellor on deck!"

Glass snapped to attention, standing up and straightening her rumpled top. She desperately needed to talk to Jaha, get a second opinion…

But to her great surprise, it was not Jaha walking in to the Earth Monitoring room, but Markus Kane. She saw Sinclair look up confusedly across the room. Abby and Jackson were missing. Glass hadn't even noticed them leave. A cold feeling of dread washed over her. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Kane cleared his throat. "I will be acting Chancellor until… until the situation improves. So for now, I suggest-"

"Why? What's going on?" Glass interrupted, louder than she'd intended to in the quiet room.

Kane locked his eyes with hers.

"The Chancellor has been shot."

 **Hi guys, I hope you're enjoying the story so far- this is going to be a mix of what happens in the book, tv show and my own imagination! Reviews are MUCH appreciated 3 Keep reading!**


	3. Earth Skills

Disclaimer: The 100 belongs to Kass Morgan, I do not own any of her characters.

 **Earth Skills**

 **Bellamy**

Bellamy jumped to the ground from the drop ship door, inhaling deeply. The recycled air on the Ark, it turned out, had been a shitty joke. Bellamy hadn't known that the Ark air was any different to on Earth (in fact, he'd thought it must be better because on Earth you'd probably be breathing radioactive fire or something- he'd never really paid attention in Earth Education). But it wasn't like that at all. Bellamy would say it was like breathing in clouds and sunshine, and then punch anyone who laughed at him for it.

He looked over at Octavia, who was running and jumping through the woods, laughing. He smiled. At least here he and Octavia could be free at last. Fear gripped him whenever he thought about what he'd done to get down to Earth, but seeing Octavia, he knew he'd done the right thing. He had always protected her, and a little thing like a trip to a nuclear planet wasn't going to stop him. "My sister," he muttered, "my responsibility." She was the only thing Bellamy had left. If anything happened to her, Bellamy would never forgive himself.

Someone cleared their throat directly behind him. His hand flew straight to the gun tucked in to the waistband of his pants as he spun around. A blonde girl stood with her hand on her hip, one eyebrow raised. He recognised her as the one who had practically screamed at him not to open the drop ship door. He smirked at her and opened his arms. "Air's not toxic." Her eyebrow travelled further up her forehead than Bellamy thought was humanly possible.

"It still could be. The effects of radiation could be sudden or they could come on more slowly. You wouldn't even realise until your skin started burning off your bones."

Bellamy shrugged and began walking off. Honestly, he had thought that since they were all mostly still alive, Earth wasn't radioactive anymore. The thought of them all being slowly exposed to radiation until they died slightly unsettled him, but he'd be damned before he showed her that.

"Wait!"

He turned around impatiently. "What do you want?"

"I heard you had a gun." Her mouth thinned into a tight line.

Eyeing her cautiously, Bellamy flipped up the hem of his shirt, showing her the shiny black metal. She nodded solemnly. "Good. Follow me." She set off briskly.

Taken aback, Bellamy marched after her. "I don't even know you. Why should I go anywhere with you?"

"If you want to survive, we have to get to Mount Weather. That's where the Chancellor said all the supplies are. They landed us on the wrong mountain," she said, without turning around or slowing down.

"Wait." He grabbed her arm.

She huffed impatiently. "What now?"

"And how do you propose the two of us will carry back enough food for a hundred?"

He could tell she hadn't thought of this, and felt a thrill of satisfaction at having one-upped her.

"Don't you mean the five of us?" The spacewalker (Finn?) appeared out of nowhere, towing along a scrawny kid with what Bellamy thought was a pair of goggles on his head, and an Asian kid with a long fringe swept over his forehead, nearly obscuring his eyes. Bellamy didn't have to look at the blonde girl to know her expression mirrored his- eyebrows raised sceptically. "Make that six!" Octavia skipped over, swinging her arms.

Bellamy grabbed her arm feeling a surge of protectiveness and wheeled her around. "Definitely _not_ , O. It's too dangerous. You're going to stay _in camp._ "

" _Bell,"_ she hissed, "let me come."

"No."

She looked up at him, her wide blue eyes pleading. "Bell. They locked me under the floor for 16 years. I need to- to do something _crazy._ Just because I can." Bellamy felt his resolve wavering. "Plus, would you really rather for me to stay here with a bunch of criminals? I'm safer with you anyway."

Bellamy sighed in defeat. "Fine. But stay close to me." He walked back to the group, Octavia bounding along behind him. He could tell she was smirking.

The blonde girl started walking as soon as Bellamy and Octavia reached the group, meaning that Bellamy had to jog to get in front of her. "Hey, you!" he barked. "I'm the one with the gun here."

"Yeah…" she rolled her eyes, "but I'm the one with the map. And it's Clarke, by the way."

She strode off ahead. Bellamy felt anger boiling away in his stomach. Who the hell did she think she was? She looked about 17- a child. He was 20, and a trained member of the guard (or at least he had been). _He_ knew how to use a gun. Without him, they wouldn't get more than a few metres. Who knew what kind of sick beasts were trolling these woods? Bellamy made to run ahead again, but Finn grabbed his arm. "I wouldn't advise it, man. She'd probably rip your balls off." Bellamy snorted- he highly doubted a 17 year old _girl_ would be a better fighter than he was, but he grudgingly fell back into line behind her, shaking Finn off roughly. Finn shrugged, and fell behind Bellamy. Glancing behind, Bellamy saw it was to talk to Octavia, who was fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Spinning around, Bellamy savagely grabbed Finn's collar and pulled him so they were practically nose to nose. It took all his willpower not to rip spacewalker's face off. If he so much as laid a _finger_ on his baby sister…

Spacewalker looked suitably alarmed. "If I ever catch you near my sister again, I swear, I will make your life a living hell," Bellamy seethed.

Finn shoved him away and marched off. "Piss off, Bellamy."

Satisfied, Bellamy pulled his gun out of his pants and loaded it, swearing as he almost dropped the bullet. Octavia marched up to him.

" _Bellamy!_ What the _hell_ was that? He was cute!"

"He's a criminal, O!"

"They're _all_ criminals!" Octavia hissed, elbowing past him. Bellamy huffed, rolling his eyes. If Octavia being angry with him meant Finn kept his grubby hands off her, Bellamy could handle it.

Besides, it looked as if spacewalker was already moving on to the girl- Clarke. Bellamy could hear their conversation.

"How do you block all this out, Princess?" Finn was asking, plucking a vibrant purple flower from a small bush.

"Simple," Clarke replied exasperatedly. "I wonder why we haven't seen any animals yet. Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us!"

That shut Finn up. Bellamy rolled his eyes skywards. Why waste time worrying about radiation? If Clarke was right, it was already too late. He rolled his shoulders, enjoying the feeling of warm sunlight on his back. Bellamy reckoned it was as good as being in bed with a girl. Maybe even better because the sun didn't ask you what you were thinking.

The two other kids were straggling along, arguing, from what Bellamy could deduce, about the medicinal properties of the plants. God. Back on the Ark he probably would have beat those guys up, just for showing him up in class. Some might call it bullying, but Bellamy preferred to think of it as putting them back in their place. And honestly, he didn't give a shit what anyone else thought.

Abruptly, the group ground to a halt, Clarke holding up a hand to shush them. Crouching down behind the others, Bellamy saw why they had stopped- a deer was grazing idly on the grass in front of them. Despite his earlier indifference, Bellamy felt a surge of relief. Animals meant food. And food meant surviving. He even allowed himself a small smile as the deer picked through the shrubbery.

A loud snap jarred the silence. The deer whipped around, and Bellamy had to fight down a wave of nausea as a bloody extra head sprouting on the other side of its neck was exposed, flopping grotesquely like rubber. Without warning a black mound sprung out of the bushes to their left, and pounced on the deer, tearing it apart. Bellamy could only stare in shock and horror, and pray the beast didn't notice them-

Octavia gasped as the animal ripped off the deer's leg and flung it over the bush. It landed next to them, a stinking pile of blood and flesh. Horrified, Bellamy clamped a hand down on Octavia's mouth.

But it was too late.

The black animal tore through the bushes towards them. "Your gun, Bellamy!" Clarke screamed, leaping to her feet. "Shoot it!"

"Shit!" Bellamy fumbled his gun into the correct position as the creature charge towards them. "I can't get a clear shot!" He yelled, shooting blindly. Gunshots cracked around them. One managed to hit the creature's leg, and it slowed, but it had already reached them. To Bellamy's increasing horror, it leaped at Octavia, who was sitting frozen on the ground. "Octavia, MOVE!" Bellamy bellowed hoarsely. The boy with goggles barrelled into her, knocking her out of the beast's path. Bellamy kept shooting, crazily firing bullet after bullet.

The creature crashed down, shaking the ground. Blood oozed out of a bullet hole in its head. Bellamy felt a surge of relief. He looked over to Clarke and Finn, who were standing looking shell shocked. Bellamy smirked, his nerve returning. "No animals, huh?"

Clarke, of course, rolled her eyes.

A strangled moan came from the corner. Bellamy whipped his head around. He felt the blood drain from his face as he saw Octavia on the ground, blood gushing out of a vicious slash in her leg.

"Don't move!" he heard Clarke yell as if from very far away. "Bellamy. Rip off a strip of your shirt. I need to tie a tourniquet. Bellamy? Bellamy!"

Clarke shook him. He startled out of his trance and ripped his shirt, clumsily passing it to Clarke. He felt like he was falling down a long, dark tunnel. How had he let this happen? He was supposed to protect her! He felt like pummelling himself. _Stupid_ he thought _so, so stupid, good for nothing, useless…_

Clarke was tying the shirt strip tightly around Octavia's leg. "Can you carry her? We need to go back to camp right now."

Mutely Bellamy nodded, and bent to scoop Octavia up. Her head lolled unresponsively. "Bellamy. We need to hurry. She's losing a lot of blood," Clarke said urgently.

He started off, marching as fast as he thought was safe for Octavia, fear for her clouding out every other thought until he could hear nothing else except for the beat of his frantic heart and the voices screaming in his head.

 **Hi everyone, hope you enjoyed that chapter! I found it pretty hard to get into Bellamy's tough head but I did it- I think. As usual drop me a review or a follow thanks x**


	4. 100 Year Old Space Junk

Disclaimer: The 100 belongs to Kass Morgan, I do not own any of her characters.

 **100 Year Old Space Junk**

 **Raven**

Raven floated in through the Ark's entrance bay, relishing the last few minutes of weightlessness that space brought until her feet skimmed the ground. She pulled off her helmet seconds before a gust of air whooshed through the air lock, sifting through her hair.

She grinned as a muffled voice yelled from outside the entrance bay's sealed doors. "God dammit Raven! Wait for the depressurisation!"

"Sorry boys," she smirked, stripping off her space suit as her two co-workers Damien and Copper opened the air lock's doors wearing identical frowns and rolling their eyes. "I'm off to lockup to see my man." She winked and shimmied her hips into her jeans. She paused only to carefully wind a delicate chain around her neck. She fingered the expertly crafted metal charm. A raven. What else? It felt pleasantly cool against her skin.

"Sorry Raven, the Sky block's out. Something about a quarantine…? I don't know. But it'll be closed for a coupl'a weeks, at least." Damien looked apologetic.

"Oh." Raven felt her heart sink. Apart from space walks, seeing _him_ was the only thing that kept her sane in this metal box.

 _Finn._

God, she was hopeless. She would never admit that she thought about Finn more than was probably healthy. The way his hair, as dark as the space enveloping them, fell into his eyes… and his _eyes_ … one glance was all it took, and she was hypnotised, her brain melting, any speech she was capable of reduced to incomprehensible gibberish. Raven had always scoffed at the way other girls her age on the Ark had giggled and swooned over the lanky, pimply boys in their classes, but those boys hadn't made her heart pound so hard it felt like it was punching a hole through her ribcage. Those boys hadn't been Finn.

"Well, I'll see you round, fellas," Raven called over her shoulder as she left the entrance bay and strode off down the corridor.

Raven had just turned the corner to go to the maintenance room to log her space-walk, when Abby came flying around the corner. She collided with Raven hard, almost knocking her to the floor. Wildly, Abby looked around, hers eyes taking too long to focus. Raven had never seen Abby look this lost. As a respected member of the council, she always looked put together- cool, calm and collected. Raven felt a shiver of foreboding.

"Abby? Is everything alright?"

"Raven." Abby's piercing grey eyes locked onto Raven's own wide brown eyes. "I- need you. To do something."

"Alright…" said Raven, perplexed.

"But- not here. Quick," said Abby, impatiently pulling Raven along. "We can't be seen."

Raven half-walked, half-ran to keep up as Abby jostled her down the corridor, ducking into open doorways whenever someone came into view. It crossed Raven's mind that after all that time working on the Council, the pressure had finally destroyed Abby. She seemed completely mad.

They reached a room in a deserted part of the ship. Glancing around furtively, Abby pulled Raven in through the doorway. Raven stopped dead, eyes widening. "No way. No frickin' way! How long has this been here?"

Where before Abby had been muddled and vague, the intensity of her gaze now chilled Raven to the bone. "I need you to fix it."

The rusty pod sat shedding screws and pieces of metal sheeting in the middle of the room. Around it, a crumpled, grease- stained sheet lay curled, as if someone had tried to maintain it but forgotten to for the past few decades. Raven walked forwards and banged her fist onto the metal hull. There was a clatter as more screws dislodged and fell to the floor. Raven glanced back at Abby sceptically. "You want me to fix _this?_ "

Abby gave a stiff nod.

"Mend a _pod?_ You _do_ realise you are asking me to break the law?"

Abby gritted her teeth. "Raven, we are wasting time. Can you fix it or not?"

Raven stared back incredulously. "This is my life we're talking about here! I could get _floated_ for this Abby!"

Abby let out a little gasp and grabbed Raven's hands roughly. "Please Raven. Please! You're the best mechanic we have in this whole goddamn ship!"

Raven pulled her hands out of Abby's trembling grasp. "Why? Why do you need to do this?"

"I asked them to wait!" Abby said wildly. "But they wouldn't listen!" Her blue eyes locked on to Raven's dark brown ones. "The Ark… the Ark is dying. Barely three months of oxygen left, and-"

"Abby, slow down!" Raven's mind was whirring, clicking, slotting things together…

"There's going to be a cull!" Abby moaned. "I-I have to go down! I have to show them it's survivable!"

"What's survivable? Abby, _what's survivable?"_ But Raven already knew.

Earth.

 **Nora**

Nora sat watching as a few kids milled around the dead panther, all too wary to touch it. The beast's coat gleamed darkly in the flickering light, wet with blood. She'd watched as the boy dressed in the guard's uniform stormed back through the woods into the camp carrying a girl who looked half dead, blood staining the makeshift bandage from the wound in her leg. The wild expression she'd glimpsed on his face as he marched across the camp made her slightly uncomfortable, as if she'd seen something she shouldn't've. He'd stridden into the tent they'd set up, and hadn't come out since. Much later, a few more kids had appeared through the trees, dragging the panther behind them, claiming it was what had attacked the girl.

Since they had landed on Earth, Nora hadn't really moved much. She _had_ helped set up the tent (it mostly involved dropping a lot of pegs on her part and generally feeling useless), but now all sense of purpose had left her, and it was all she could do from falling asleep on the spot. If she wasn't wary that someone might very well try to kill in her sleep, she probably would have. One thought kept bumping around in her brain. _What the hell are we meant to do now?_ Others might prefer to revel in the joy of finding themselves _not_ dead, by going on hunting sprees, or making out passionately under in the forest (she severely wished she could un-see that), but Nora couldn't ignore the fact that the Ark had dropped them on this planet with nothing but a few measly ration packs and couple of tarps. They had no water, no weapons, and, supposing they survived until winter, no shelter from the bitter cold.

The metal bracelet twinged on her wrist, making her wince. It hadn't stopped throbbing since they'd latched it on her. She supposed it was sending her vitals to the Ark, telling them whether it was safe to follow or not. They better hurry the hell up and get down there, she thought, eyeing one guy as he coughed noisily and spat out a lump of phlegm; because she really didn't fancy squeezing up to these people to conserve body heat come winter time.

Her attention was averted from the coughing guy by the reappearance of the guard-boy from the tent. He marched over to the panther, and began ordering people in a loud, deep voice, to "help him the cut the bloody thing up unless they wanted to starve for the next few weeks." Nora felt a twinge of regret as they started hacking into the thing. That was, until her stomach grumbled in betrayal.

The smell of roasting meat enveloped the clearing. Nora hoped to God that the smell didn't attract any more beasts from the woods. She didn't particularly feel like being eaten alive, no matter how badly she wanted to escape these people.

"Who's hungry?" bellowed the guard-boy. There was a resounding whoop as people ran to the fire. Nora staggered to her feet with a sigh of relief. Hunger had won out over ethics- a sick, swooping feeling in her stomach reminded her that at the moment she could devour the whole beast on her own.

She was only five people away from being fed when she realised something was wrong. The roar from everyone surrounding the fire after each new person was served which she had mistaken for appreciation at the food, was coupled with an odd metallic noise. Horrified, she glanced around the people in front of her and saw the guard-boy wrenching a metal wristband off a girl, who screwed her eyes shut in pain, before letting it fall with a _clink_ into the pile. Before she knew what she was doing, Nora barged to the front of the line. "Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The guard- boy rose to his feet, glaring at her. Close to, she saw he was more of a man than a boy, with a shadow of stubble bruising his chin, and that the guard uniform was very ill fitting; he'd had to squeeze his broad figure into the jacket. Pretending she had not noticed this, Nora continued to stare at him fiercely.

"Who the hell do you think you are? We're in charge here-" he gestured to the group of guys behind him, "and we say that to _eat,_ the cuffs have to come _off_."

Nora had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The guy had gone from intimidating to about twelve years old in the space of two minutes.

"Yeah well, unless you want to die down here, they have to stay _on_."

The group of guys behind the gaurd who had spoken exchanged looks, but the guard didn't move his eyes from Nora's face.

"Oh yeah?" he smirked, raising an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Nora raised the wrist with the metal bracelet attached. "This isn't just fancy jewellery, you know. It's transmitting all our vital signals back up to the Ark."

There was some snickers from the group of onlookers. "So?" one rough looking girl called. "We don't need them monitoring us! They can't control us from up there anyway."

Aware of the guard's eyes still trained on her face, Nora raised her eyebrows. And rolled her eyes for good measure.

"By receiving our vitals, they can tell if we're all dying or not. If we're all right as rain, they'll come down too." The snickering started up again. "Don't think you need them?" called Nora over the rising volume. "Fine. Let's see how long you last down here without doctors, engineers, scientists, guards-" she flicked a look to the guy in front of her, "or any of the brainiacs up there. You can pretend you're so strong and macho, but without them, we're dead meat."

A hush had fallen over the camp. The guard glanced around him. "Seriously?" he yelled. "You're going to listen to some random girl tell you that even though we're free, we still have to do what they-" he gestured up to the sky, "tell us? Up there, we were prisoners. They didn't care about us then, and they sure as hell don't care about us now. Why do you think they sent us down first? They don't give a shit about us. And if they come _down_ , what'll we be? Controlled. Like we've been all our lives!"

A rallying cry went up around the camp, with Nora and the guard at its centre. The heat of the bonfire blazed around them all.

"I say we take off the cuffs!" he continued bellowing. "Let them think we're dead! To hell with the Ark!"

The noise increased, making Nora want to clap her hands over her ears.

"Without them, we can do whatever the hell we want!"

The crowd took his last words and chanted them brazenly, pumping fists enthusiastically. " _Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!"_ Nora felt like she imagined a zebra would feel surrounded by a pack of hyenas.

Shoving her way through the crowd, Nora made her way to the panther meat. The guard shot out a hand and grabbed her wrist as she reached for a skewer of meat. He squeezed her wrist painfully, making her wince. "Uh uh uh," he mocked, "food for your bracelet."

 _This is completely ridiculous,_ thought Nora. She let her wrist go slack, and felt him loosen his grip. Swiftly, she snapped her hand away from him and grabbed a piece of meat. Surprise flickered across his face, quickly replaced by a thundering anger. Putting her face very close to his, Nora spat, "You and your cronies do what you like. But the only way you'll get my bracelet is if I'm _actually_ dead."

Turning on her heel, she pushed through the crowd back to her solitary log, ignoring the catcalls and mocking laughter. She should be furious, but all she could focus on right now- ethics be damned- was how good the panther meat actually tasted.

 **Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated for so long, I've been ridiculously busy with stuff. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think of Nora?** **Reviews are much appreciated, as always :D**


	5. Earth Kills

Disclaimer: The 100 belongs to Kass Morgan, I do not own any of her characters.

 **Earth Kills**

 **Clarke**

Clarke was absolutely exhausted. Blinking sleepily, she performed what had become a routine check of Octavia's leg. Clarke had changed Octavia's bandages five times, but they were still filthy, deeply engrained with dirt, as everything was down here. And despite her best efforts with the tourniquet, the bleeding hadn't stopped. She had spent the last two days crouched awkwardly beside Octavia in the dim misshapen tent, sponging the younger girl's forehead while she slept fitfully. If the bleeding continued, Clarke knew Octavia wouldn't last much longer. And it didn't help that Bellamy kept bursting in at random, demanding to know what was going on and just generally being a nuisance.

Clarke sighed and shifted quietly. _What we really need_ she thought, _is some medicine._ Unfortunately, all the medicine had been lost in the landing. _Typical._

But she couldn't just keep sitting here doing nothing when the poor girl was dying in front of her. "That's it," she said aloud, standing up. Her cramped muscles screamed in protest as she ducked under the tent flap. She collided suddenly with a solid wall. _Wha…?_ She looked up bemusedly and was greeted with a smugly irritable smile. Finn. She straightened up and tried to look as though the chance encounter with his solid stomach muscles hadn't flustered her.

"Princess!" grinned Finn. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Clarke rolled her eyes and strode away.

"You do sarcasm so well, Princess- wait!" he called, jogging after her. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere away from you."

"Awww, come on. You can tell Papa Finn."

Clarke gave him a look that would have frozen the Sahara. "If you ever say that again, I will personally see to it that you are murdered in your sleep."

At the sight of Finn's shocked face, eyebrows raised almost to his hairline, a giggle slipped out before Clarke could stop it.

"Aha! You can laugh! I knew it!" Clarke turned away to hide her smile, but slowed to let Finn fall in to step beside her.

"All right. I need to find some Octavia some medicine. I'm worried about her- she's lost a lot of blood, and if we don't find the medicine they sent down, I don't think she'll…" with every passing word Clarke's face grew tighter and more strained, "… I don't think she'll make it," she finished in a whisper. Finn stared at her, the smile wiped off his face. People dying from radiation was one thing, expected even, but people dying when they could have saved them with medicine they were sent down with…

Clarke saw her own determination reflected in Finn's face. "I know something that could help," he said. "There's a lake not far from here, and there's this red moss. _Lichenous Prosmentum._ It's good for clotting blood, preventing infection, stuff like that." Clarke raised her eyebrows.

"A plus- grade Earth Skills student," Finn said, smirking again.

"Well then," Clarke said, rolling her eyes, "lead the way."

 **Bellamy**

They were running low on food. Nearly all the fresh panther meat was gone, with only some large slices hanging up in a small makeshift log hut. People were beginning to complain. And people were beginning to complain _to him._ Bellamy raked his hands through his hair, staring into the fire pit, where coals still smouldered. They would have to go hunting again.

As ashamed as he was of admitting it (even if it was just to himself), Bellamy had been putting off going out again after the panther attack. The image of Octavia lying bleeding on the ground, face leeched of all colour, was still something that haunted him in his sleep. That, and the fact that it might never have happened if he had just managed to shoot the frickin' thing on the first go.

"Shit!" he swore fervently, and kicked some dirt into the fire pit. Smoke billowed up around him.

"Hey!" he heard a voice call. " _You_ might think stinking of smoke is attractive, but there are no showers down here, or literally any water at all really, and I don't particularly want to go around reeking like a bonfire, so-"

Bellamy kicked some more dirt on the fire.

" _Would_ _you stop that!_ Seriously, go find someone else to torment- oh."

The person had come around the side of the pit, presumably to nag him in person, and had stopped short. Bellamy swore again. _Just when you think a day couldn't get any worse…_

It was that stuck up girl from last night.

He saw her cheeks flame red, and her jaw tightened. He sighed.

"You! You- you- you dickhead!"

Bellamy was lost for words (dickhead? Really?). Who did she think she was? Here he was, trying to figure out a way to ******* _feed_ them all, and keep them safe, and she was going to call him a dickhead and lecture him on _wafting smoke_ over her.

"What do you want now?" he grunted hoarsely.

She rolled her eyes. "You think you're so strong, ordering people around like you do, telling them to trade their bracelets for food, where to go, what to do- yet, you say that all the Ark did was control people. I mean, down here, we can do _whatever the hell we want_ , right? Right? So why do you get to be leader?"

"Fine. You be leader then. Your first job is to organise a hunting party that can bring back enough food for the entire camp, and it needs to last more than a few weeks. Then you can instruct people on how to set up the huts- ones for food, supplies and sleeping- and _then_ you can organise shifts on how to defend the camp, because we sure as hell don't need any more ******* animals in here." Bellamy turned on his heel and stormed away. He needed to get some of the stronger guys together to get ready...

He caught movement in the corner of his eye and turned to see the girl _running up to him_.

"Done," she said, before he could get a word in. "I'll organise the hunting party and the defence. The huts you'll have to do, I'm afraid, because I couldn't get a tent peg into the ground."

Bellamy smirked. The girl rolled her eyes.

"So I'll need your gun."

Bellamy just looked at her. She barely came up to his shoulder- surely she couldn't be older than sixteen. She didn't seriously think he would give her his gun- she'd probably shoot him the moment he turned his back and then take over the camp for real. That was, if she could work the gun. He snorted. She'd most likely take out her own foot or something accidentally.

"No. Way. No way am I giving my gun to some little girl-"

Her eyes flashed. "Little girl? I'm not the one playing dress- up in a guard uniform." She sighed as Bellamy clenched his jaw, but said nothing. "Fine. Keep your gun. But I'm coming with you."

Bellamy rolled his eyes to the sky. " _God!_ Alright! Just keep up. You've got another thing coming if you think I'm going to piggy-back you when you get too tired."

 **Clarke**

About half an hour later, Clarke and Finn came to a stop in front of a large-ish lake, with rippling clear water. Clarke couldn't help it. Her jaw dropped.

Glancing sidelong at her, Finn grinned slyly. In one fluid motion he stripped off his shirt and dove in. Clarke shrieked. "Finn! What the hell are you doing? We need to focus- Octavia could be bleeding to death _as we speak_! And who's Bellamy going to blame? Me! That's who!" Finn surface laughing, shaking his wet hair out of his face.

"Come on Princess. How many times have you swum in a lake? Or swum, period?"

Clarke glared at him, and started walking around the perimeter of the lake, scanning for a flash of red. _Please let it be here…please let it be here… anywhere here…_

All of a sudden, something barrelled into her, grabbing her and throwing her into the water. Clarke's shriek was lost to the lake as she sunk. She flailed around blindly, kicking out when she felt something close to her. Fear spiralled inside her, slowing her thoughts, limiting her movements…

She surfaced, spluttering and coughing, struggling to stay afloat and whipping her head around wildly, trying to see through bleary eyes. Slowly, she became aware of loud hoots of mirth. As her vision cleared, she saw Finn sitting in the shallows, howling with laughter.

"God dammit Finn!" Clarke yelled, splashing over to him. She found she could just reach the bottom if she stood on tip-toe. "I can't swim, you idiot!"

She wasn't sure if Finn was even listening. As she drew close, he showed her a slimy handful of red. "Got it! While you were off mucking about, _some_ of us were actually working," he grinned, and dodged the punch aimed at his shoulder.

 **Bellamy**

Bellamy led the hunting party away from the camp and into the forest. The moment he stepped past the tree line, the effect was instantaneous- his shoulders relaxed, his breathing deepened and his stress evaporated. It was better than any drug he'd ever had, that was for sure. He even forgot about the threat of another animal attack a little. In fact, this would have been completely peaceful had it not been for the girl.

Every step she took sounded to Bellamy like a gunshot. He knew she probably wasn't trying to be loud on purpose, but he was sure that every step she took was scaring the game further and further away.

"Could you just _try_ to be a bit quieter?" Bellamy snapped after a particularly loud _crunch._

She looked back at him, eyes widened innocently. "It's not me!"

Had Bellamy not wanted to keep as quiet as possible, he would have argued, but his hollow stomach served as a constant reminder that this was their last chance to get food before hunger started gripping the camp. He sure as hell did not want to lose any sleep worrying he was going to wake up with someone gnawing into his leg.

After about fifteen minutes, Bellamy stopped and motioned for the group to be quiet and follow his lead. They crept forwards, and Bellamy peered around the corner. Sure enough, a group of abnormally large rabbits with long ears drooping to double the length of their bodies lolloped around casually. He allowed himself a sigh of relief, before turning sternly to the rest of the group. "Now," he mouthed, "surround them." He cursed himself silently for not having the forethought to set up any traps. Bellamy doubted that the group would be able to catch any, but he had the only gun, and he'd die before he gave that up.

The group of guys disappeared as they positioned themselves around the rabbits. He was just readying his gun, taking aim at the biggest, when he felt a tug on his shirt. _You've got to be ******* kidding me._ The girl was tugging on his shirt, still standing next to him, staring off into the trees.

"What?" Bellamy demanded, as quietly as possible. He should never have let her tag along.

"What's that?" she said loudly. Behind Bellamy, the rabbits pricked up their ears.

"Shut up!" Bellamy whispered harshly. "You'll scare them!"

"No, seriously- that's gas. I'm sure it is!"

Bellamy rolled his eyes and stared in the direction she was pointing. _Bloody hell. This girl is going to be the death of us all._

He blinked hard. There was a foggy gas moving in from the camp, but he didn't have any doubt as to what it was. "Seriously?" he whisper-shouted. " _Again_ with the smoke?"

She turned around to glare at him, "That's not smoke, asshole. That's gas! We need to get out of here. Now."

"No! I'm not blowing another chance at food because some little princess got scared of some _smoke_."

Before he could stop her, she marched past him, bumping him roughly as she passed. She shouted at the top of her voice, "GUYS! WE NEED TO LEAVE. RIGHT. NOW."

And when no one appeared out of the bushes, "NOW, YOU IDIOTS!" The rabbits stiffened, and bolted.

Bellamy groaned loudly and beat his fist into his head. "Great. Now we have no food. ARE YOU CRAZY?" he roared at her. He expected her to tremble or apologise, and the get the **** out of there so he could actually hunt properly, _alone_ \- but instead, when she turned around…

She looked petrified.

He got a good glance past her shoulder, and saw to his horror that _she was right._ What he had taken to be smoke was actually a yellow colour and was advancing stealthily, and quickly. He saw some of the guys emerging confusedly from the trees. "ALRIGHT!" he bellowed. "EVERYONE MOVE OUT! FIND SOME KIND OF SHELTER!"

Without pausing, Bellamy grabbed the girls arm and towed her away from the fog. She stumbled, but he couldn't stop to slow down. He could only pray that the rest had heard him and were following. The few backward glances he took showed only a wall of yellow, and each breath was beginning to send a sharp, burning pain through his chest. Soon, most of his vision was obscured. He grappled blindly for the girl's arm, and to his relief, he caught hold of her top and held on while they plummeted through the forest.

"In here!" Bellamy heard her gasp, and felt her pulling him to the right. His eyes stung and smarted badly, and he let her pull him away, hoping she knew where the hell she was going. Bellamy had the feeling that being trapped out in this fog wouldn't be a smart plan.

His feet began to stop colliding with small branches and stones, and he realised that some of his vision was coming back. They were in a small, rocky cave, standing on a smooth stone floor. Bellamy whipped around, but to his relief, a large overhang stopped most of the fog from coming in, as long as they stayed away from the entrance.

 _The girl!_ Bellamy glanced over, and saw her crouching, one hand braced against the wall, coughing like she was going to spit up her lungs. Cautiously, he went over to her, and put a hand gently on her shoulder. "Are you- alright?" he asked awkwardly.

"Didn't… I …tell you?" she gasped in between hacking coughs. "Didn't…I… tell you it wasn't…smoke!"

Bellamy withdrew his hand and glared at her. She sunk down the stone wall, wiping her mouth.

They stared at each other for a moment before-

"Bellamy… where are the others?"

Right on cue, a bloodcurdling scream rent the air. It raised all the hairs on Bellamy's neck. The scream went on and on, the person never stopping to draw breath. Bellamy couldn't bear it anymore.

"I'M COMING!" he cried, and made to run for to entrance.

"Bellamy, no!" The girl had grabbed a hold of him, pinning him against the cave wall with surprising strength. He struggled, knocking his head against the sharp rock. "LET ME GO!" he bellowed. The scream had not stopped, and now Bellamy could clearly make out more than one voice, screaming as if they were being set alight. His group. He'd lead them out here- if anything happened to them… He shoved the girl off him, but she appeared again, jabbing her elbow viciously into his stomach so he gasped and doubled over. "Bellamy, stop! Please!" she gasped, and he saw tears cutting tracks down the grime on her cheeks. "You can't help them! If you go out there, you'll die!"

"I can't just leave them!" Bellamy's voice cracked.

"Please-please…" the girl whispered croakily, "you have to stay here… you have to stay…"

Bellamy fell against the rocky wall of the cave, slumping over as the screams went on and on and on.

 **Clarke**

Much later, damp and exhausted, Clarke and Finn trudged back into camp. _Oh God,_ thought Clarke, _not now, please._ She had just spotted Wells marching towards them out of the corner of her eye. Not even bothering to turn, Clarke called, "What do you want Wells? I'm warning you, I've had about three hours sleep in the last two days, and I've just spent all day hiking. I have a patient to deal with, and I really can't be bothered with you right now."

Wells stopped in his tracks, clearly affronted. "I was just trying to make sure you got back okay," he said, wounded. Once upon a time, Clarke would have hated herself for making him sound like that, but now she hated him more than anything, so that logic didn't apply anymore. Or so she told herself.

"Well, I've got Finn, so I don't need your help." Clarke marched off, but not before she saw Wells' hands tighten satisfyingly into fists. She had almost made it to the sickbay tent where Octavia was resting before Finn caught up to her again. "Hey," he said as they stooped to enter the tent. "Wells was just trying to help."

"Well, the last time Wells tried to 'help,' people ended up dead."

That would have shut most people up, but, as Clarke was coming to realise, Finn wasn't most people. "People you cared about?" he asked quietly.

Clarke didn't answer. Her eyes begin to sting, even though she was sure all the lake water would have washed out by now. She busied herself instead with the moss, ripping it up and placing it with some new bandages on Octavia's leg.

"Clarke?"

"Where's Bellamy, anyway?" Clarke asked, falsely bright. "I want him to see our handiwork."

Finn looked at her sideways. "Someone said he went out with a hunting party. He'll be back soon."

Before he could start talking again, Clarke said, "Well, I better stay here. In case Bellamy gets back. But you should go. Rest."

"I think _you_ should probably rest," said Finn, eyes melding into Clarke's. "Get some sleep. I'll watch her." And when Clarke started to protest, "Hey. It was my idea about the moss, wasn't it? If it wasn't for me, you'd still be watching her bleed out. I can handle it."

Clarke glared at him, but reluctantly began to walk out. She wanted to argue, but she really was too tired to do much except put one foot in front of the other. As she was leaving, Finn brushed her arm. It might even have been an accident, but Clarke felt suddenly as if, for the first time since landing, they might actually make it after all.

 **Bellamy**

The screams had stopped. They had sputtered and gurgled out, like wet candles.

For a long time, neither he nor the girl moved. Bellamy stayed hunched against the rough rock wall, trying to banish the sounds of the dying boys from his head. He already knew it was something he wouldn't be able to forget, no matter how hard he tried. After what felt like hours, he raised his head stiffly, and turned to look at the girl. She also sat unmoving in the dark corner. With a pang, he realised she was trembling. Unwinding his cramped body, he turned to face her. She lifted her head, and looked at him.

Her expression caught him off guard. It was the worst thing he'd ever seen, worse than the screaming. Her eyes were completely blank, drained of colour. Her mouth gaped at him, lips like red slashes against her pale face. He felt a shudder electrocute his spine. She wasn't crying anymore.

Bellamy simultaneously wanted to fill the silence and never speak another word. Instead, he said the first thing that came into his head. "I don't even know your name," he croaked.

For a long time, she didn't answer. Then, "Nora. Nora Watson," she whispered.

"Bellamy."

"Well I'm glad we've introduced ourselves. That really solves things, doesn't it?" There was a long silence, one that seemed to echo and swell.

"Nora…"

She flicked her eyes to him.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

And she turned away from him. Bellamy didn't think he could possibly feel any worse.

A little while later, the fog had cleared. Bellamy glanced over at Nora. She had moved to the centre of the cave, and sat staring out into the forest. Suddenly, she spoke, jarring the silence.

"I don't care what you think of me- I don't want to go out there."

He sighed. "Nora, look, we have to leave sometime-"

"But I don't know what we're going to find. I don't _want_ to find it. Them."

Bellamy shifted uncomfortably. Nora just kept staring.

"How old are you?" he asked. Anything. Anything to stop her thinking the thoughts that buzzed around his head like angry wasps.

She turned to look at him, a slight frown creasing her forehead. "Eighteen."

He frowned in spite of himself. She was tiny for eighteen.

Now it was her turn to talk. "You're not a real guard, are you?"

Bellamy just looked at her, jaw clenched. Like hell he was telling her _that_ story.

He cleared his throat, and winced. It was like the fog had singed a layer of skin off of everything. The fog… _don't think about that,_ he told himself.

"So how did you end up down here?" As soon as he'd asked the question, he wished he could take it back. _Idiot! Why would you ask her that?_

"And you couldn't even tell me if you were a real guard or not." She raised her eyebrows.

"We- we don't have to talk about-" he struggled. Words had never really been his strong suit.

"No. It's ok," Nora said, sighing. "My cousin… he's only five. He- he has- a disability. They told my aunt and uncle not to… not to keep him, but they couldn't- anyway," she took a deep breath. "We were in C13- trading, you know." C13- most of the black market activity happened there. On the Ark, food had been ridiculously expensive, as it was in such short supply. Real delicacies, like chocolate, or cheese, had been practically impossible to come by unless you were filthy rich. She looked down at the floor, embarrassed. _So, she had been poor,_ thought Bellamy. It was nothing new. He'd been down to C13 more times than he could count, trying to trade buttons for presents for Octavia.

"He didn't mean to- he didn't know what he was doing. But he took an apple." Nora wiped her eyes, and Bellamy looked away. "They tried to take him away. I just- I just couldn't bear the thought of him, alone, in a cell, and then when he was eighteen… so when they came, I just kind of- freaked out. They said I assaulted them. They didn't even give me a trial, and I was already eighteen. They were all set to throw me out to space… instead they sent me here." She gave a shrewd smile. "Lucky me."

Bellamy felt something solidify in the pit of his stomach. He understood exactly why she'd done what she did. After all, what he did to get down here for Octavia…

Nora seemed to lose herself, a blank stare wiping her face of emotion. After a while, he gave a small cough. "We should probably get going. Check out what things are like back at camp." Bellamy saw Nora glance at the cave mouth. The air looked completely free of fog.

"We can't stay in here all day."

She shook her head. "No, I know, I was just- just thinking about- if it's safe…"she trailed off lamely.

Bellamy stood up, and headed over to the cave mouth. He stuck his head out, trying not to appear too apprehensive, and breathed deeply a couple of times. "Everything seems fine. We need to head out now, while we can," he said, hoisting his gun out of his pants. He turned around to where Nora was still sitting in the cave. "Unless you're scared of a bit of smoke?"

She rolled her eyes, and got to her feet. "You're a complete asshole, you know that?" She shoved past him, knocking into his shoulder roughly. He clenched his fists. _Seriously? She still had the nerve to call him an asshole?_

"Oh, asshole. That's real cute!" he shouted after her retreating back, before following her, gun at the ready.

 **Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter, it took me a long time! Who's been your favourite viewpoint so far? Let me know and leave me a review : ) thanks**


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